Radical Individualism.

You young bucks are always desperate to be different from your peers. Weird hair, clothing, music, tattoos, sexual preferences, etc... The trouble with that, is that everybody else is doing it too. What's left that marks you as different and cool? How about this?

Everybody takes themselves uber-seriously. Think about that. Everybody else is an egomaniac narcissist. Except you, of course. But even then, everybody calls you one, because they just don't 'get it'.

How about cultivating a zany lack of self-importance? Like, just don't give a toss about your image. Make jokes about yourself. Put yourself down and laugh about it. Go out of your way to look silly, to others. And don't even care when they call you silly.

Actually, I do a fair amount (as do many from my groups) to fit in with those I'd consider my "peers". Hessians are tribal - we like belonging to this group. We wear similar clothing, we all grow our hair long, we listen to the same kinds of music, enjoy the same literature, films, and games, and often like similar food/drink/intoxicants. At the same time, we can all recognise that each member of the group has individual qualities and skills, which set him/her apart from the others in our minds.

True "individualism" comes from being a part of a group. This is how we naturally operate : )

That's a funny thing... My wife and I were discussing something very similar, yesterday. I am totally unique, and it really sucks. I've self-developed to the point of literally being a crow among humans. Yet I long for a world in which I was utterly normal, by the development standards of the rest. I would love to be normal, or even sub-normal. The road less-travelled is lonely one, indeed. But a magnificent one, nonetheless.